Hogger: From Fantasy To Fulfillment: A Locomotive Engineer Remembers

A rare honest window into a fascinating time and lifestyle long lost to history. This book deserves 5 stars not for being an amazing piece of literature but for being an important historical account of an industry and a lifestyle that will never be the same. The book is very well written but must be taken as a series of stories and accounts and not one fluid work. Although some parts lack excitement they are still worthwhile to read that allow you to paint a more detailed picture of the life of this railroad man and definitely add to the book. Despite that the majority of the book consists of fascinating exciting stories of scenarios now unimaginable in modern times that make you long for the rough edges of the past. Definitely a book I will have to revisit soon.

I worked the rails for many years and found this a pretty good read. It's meant for railroaders, as there is very little time spent on defining RR terms and conditions. It is fairly well written, but somehow seemed a little dry at times, perhaps because I'm used to a little more literary cohesion; you will be OK with this book if you read it as a series of incidents that occurred ,rather than a continuous story line. As there a so few really good books of this nature, I think we are blessed to have Peterson's book. His style of writing would suggest he acquired a rather extensive vocabulary somewhere, but certainly not during his railroad days.

OK there are a few typos and the editing is a little slack here and there but this is still a very fine read. Rarely have I experienced such a sincere and well-written story of life on the footplate. Petersen is as interesting about the people he works with as the engines he works on and this is one of his strengths. The conversations he records are very real and not contrived or stilted. I believe there is at least another railroad book in this author.

I absolutely love this author you definitely want this book. Also check out his other book called Promise.

A few stitched together railroad stories from days long ago. Most of the accounts aren't even experiences of the author's, yet told second/third hand. No maps or photographs help to flesh out the "way of the land" traveled or the type of motive power used. Very little detail to the author's personal life. The book starts off with him as a boy getting his first taste of railroading, tells a bunch of stories not fully related to the author's personal experiences and then ends with his sudden retirement after 42 years of service. The highlight of the book was the very last section which detailed a freight run onboard a S-class 4-8-4. If the whole book had that level of detail it would've received a 5 star review.

As a former railroader I can relate to most of his experience made me think back to my own. I heard many railroaders say that they should wright a book. Well Mr. Petersen did and from may point of view he did a very good job. Of course railroading today is way different than the end of steam and the beginning of diesel.

A very good book describing life where steel meets steel at the end of steam and the start of the diesel age by a man who experienced it from being on a track gang to #1 engineer upon his retirement 42 years later.

Awesome book and a wonderful find.

Not very technical but a good read nevertheless.